According to two stunning new reports, the collapse of honeybee populations is worse than we ever thought. In its first-ever honeybee health survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that commercial honeybee populations fell 8.1 percent in 2015.1 Likewise, researchers in another study found that among all beekeepers 44 percent of bees were lost nationwide from 2015 to 2016.2

In addition to showing the horrific loss of honeybee populations, this research also suggests that bee-killing neonicotinoid (neonics) pesticides are one culprit of colony collapse.3

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the effects of neonics on pollinator colonies. With this new data proving honeybees are on the brink of widespread collapse, we must act now to urge the EPA to ban these toxic pesticides once and for all.

Tell the EPA: Ban bee-killing pesticides immediately.

Bees and other pollinators play a vital role in our food production system by enabling the production of many of the nuts, fruits and vegetables in our diets. In total, pollinators make possible an astounding 35% of global food production and contribute more than $24 billion annually to the U.S. economy. But the number of managed honeybee colonies in the United States has declined from six million in the 1940s to just 2.5 million today – jeopardizing our food supply and domestic agriculture industry.4

This isn’t the first time the federal government has admitted pesticides are a leading contributor to colony collapse. Last year, a similar survey, funded in part by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, revealed that U.S. beekeepers lost over 42% of their colonies between April 2014 and April 2015, a significant upswing of losses from the previous year.56

Together with our allies at Friends of the Earth, we’re aiming to deliver two million petition signatures to the EPA. Now that the federal government has once again admitted definitive proof that neonics are contributing significantly to the collapse of bee colonies, it’s time for the EPA to take action to ban these dangerous pesticides nationwide before any further harm is done to bee populations.